Flammable insulation used in Regional Enterprise Tower (formerly the Alcoa Building)? (Pittsburgh: apartments, credit)

[WRnative]

Does anybody know if flammable insulation was used in the construction of the Regional Enterprise Tower (formerly the Alcoa Building)? Flammable insulation cladding sold by Arconic (formerly Alcoa) in the U.K. has been blamed for aggravating the disastrous high-rise apartment fire in London. The Alcoa Building was built in 1953, and flammable aluminum building cladding was only banned in the U.S. about 20 years ago, according to this article.

<<The first well-known use of aluminum cladding on a high-rise was on the Alcoa Building, in Pittsburgh, erected as the manufacturer’s headquarters. Makers of cladding promoted it as both aesthetically striking and energy-efficient, because the aluminum surface reflects back heat and light. Demand for cladding surged with rising fuel costs and concerns about global warming, and over time, producers began selling it in a thin “sandwich” design: Two sheets of aluminum around a core made of flammable plastics like polyethylene.>>

London tower fire inquiry includes investigation of Pittsburgh-based Arconic

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-b...-idUSKBN19F05M

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/26/arcon...ell-tower.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...in-london-fire

The Alcoa building now houses apartments on its upper floors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Enterprise_Tower

Housing planned for former Alcoa tower | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Was flammable aluminum cladding widely used in Pittsburgh, given the presence of Alcoa in the city?

[corpgypsy]

Great question...I will be looking forward to reading any accurate information and answers. And will search around for any material that might add to the discussion.

[guy2073]

When i was in the union we were required to fireproof anything that was flammable. Also after 911 any steel that was exposed needed fire protection. I would guess the insulation was changed or covered during one of the buildings recent renovations.

[okaydorothy]

I was raised in Ireland and now live in the states. I can honestly say that the regulations here in the states are far more stringent than those in Ireland and England. Here, people pay attention to building regulations and codes. It is very strict.
In Ireland (and probaly England), people are not as compliant with codes and many of regulations were self regulated. Also, in Ireland, there was widespread corruption between builders and banks and not much done in the way of safety.

[punctus_contra_punctum]

I cannot speak for the actual insulation, but ACM panels such as the Reynobond PE panels used on the Grenfell tower in London were not commercially produced until the late 1960s, and thus were not used on the Alcoa Building. Most likely the exterior of the former Alcoa Building is simply stamped aluminium sheet.

To my knowledge, Alcoa/Arconic never manufactured any type of ACM product. They ended up owning the Reynobond product line after buying Reynolds Aluminium (the Reynolds Wrap foil company) in 2000.

[punctus_contra_punctum]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

I was raised in Ireland and now live in the states. I can honestly say that the regulations here in the states are far more stringent than those in Ireland and England. Here, people pay attention to building regulations and codes. It is very strict.
In Ireland (and probaly England), people are not as compliant with codes and many of regulations were self regulated. Also, in Ireland, there was widespread corruption between builders and banks and not much done in the way of safety.

Clearly the codes in England are amazingly lax. The fact that you could even have a residential building with one stairwell and no sprinkler system seems absurd, and wrapping such a building in flammable insulation and cladding almost defies belief. Credit to the NFPA and the builders in the US for having a much more robust design and certification process.

[Geeo]

I was shocked to learn that there were no sprinklers in the Grenfell building. I guess it's not a government regulation in England, which is surprising. There was a high-rise fire in an 18-story apartment building in downtown Pittsburgh a couple months ago and one person died. That building (it was built before there were regulations) was grandfathered in and also did not have sprinklers. The fire chief said that there has never been a death that he knows of in a fire in a building with sprinklers.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Originally Posted by Geeo

I was shocked to learn that there were no sprinklers in the Grenfell building. I guess it's not a government regulation in England, which is surprising. There was a high-rise fire in an 18-story apartment building in downtown Pittsburgh a couple months ago and one person died. That building (it was built before there were regulations) was grandfathered in and also did not have sprinklers. The fire chief said that there has never been a death that he knows of in a fire in a building with sprinklers.

I'm pretty sure all building 4 stories and taller with 3 or more units has to have sprinklers now for new builds.

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by Geeo

I was shocked to learn that there were no sprinklers in the Grenfell building. I guess it's not a government regulation in England, which is surprising. There was a high-rise fire in an 18-story apartment building in downtown Pittsburgh a couple months ago and one person died. That building (it was built before there were regulations) was grandfathered in and also did not have sprinklers. The fire chief said that there has never been a death that he knows of in a fire in a building with sprinklers.

I was at agh when one of our guys broke a sprinkler head. There was so much water that i couldn't imagine a fire lasting for more than a few seconds.

[WRnative]

Something to check in your house?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/b...ndon-fire.html

U.S. high-rise fire safety loopholes?

<<
The type of siding or “cladding” used on the Grenfell Tower in London — and suspected of feeding the massive fire that killed dozens of residents — is not allowed on the exterior of tall buildings across most of the U.S.
But a few states and the District of Columbia have relaxed their building codes in recent years and have started to permit the material’s use....


In recent years, a few U.S. jurisdictions have eliminated this testing requirement. They now permit cladding similar to what was believed to be used on the Grenfell Tower, as long as the building has other fire safety measures in place, such as a working sprinkler system. (The Grenfell Tower reportedly did not have sprinklers.)

This softening of some U.S. building codes upsets Tulsa, Okla.-based fire protection engineer John Valiulis. He says D.C. and three states — Minnesota, Indiana and Massachusetts — have exempted cladding from NFPA 285 testing.>>

Some U.S. States Relax Restrictions On Cladding Suspected In Grenfell Tower Fire | WAMU

Could A London-Style Apartment Inferno Erupt In D.C.? | WAMU

Aluminum's low melting point also became an issue in the London fire:

<< In the process, the cladding also caught fire, showering burning debris on firefighters and those seeking to escape the building below.

The aluminum itself is unlikely to have reached a temperature at which it would have caught alight, but with the melting point of about 660 degrees Celsius and fire authority estimates of temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius in the upper parts of the tower, the aluminum panels will have readily melted in the heat. Aluminum does not burn until nearly 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit, or nearly 4,000 degrees Celsius, but with the panel surfaces melting it provided no protection to prevent the flammable sandwich core from igniting along with the insulation installed in the space between the panel and the wall.
Whether aluminum cladding can survive from this disaster in the U.K. as an architectural product specified on new and existing buildings remains to be seen. Even if totally fire-resistant insulation were specified, it would be a brave architect that clad a new residential building with aluminum panels in the future.>>


https://agmetalminer.com/2017/06/28/...g-regulations/

This article details the Massachusetts rules for aluminum cladding use on buildings.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...0jM/story.html